Kaoru's Cake Remix
by yorozuyagaren
Summary: Rewrite of the original, extended, troubleshot, and injected with a small dose of plot. Kenshin and Yahiko discover that it is Kaoru's birthday, and Tae volunteers her assistance in making a cake.


I had written a whole long author's note about cake and fencing and half a dozen other things, then realized it was over a page long in AbiWord, which was ridiculous. It was also mostly irrelevant, so I deleted it. Here are the highlights: Garen can't write his own baking recipes, sponge cake is delicious, beating egg whites is good fencing practice, and 1870's Japanese people were shorter than modern-day Americans, which is why a 5'10 Sanosuke is ridiculous, and a 5'2 Kenshin not abnormally small, in spite of being an inch shorter than the apparently pocket-sized Garen. Also, Watsuki rambles a lot, but is entitled to do so because he's amazing.

Included at the end is the sponge cake recipe that I used for the story. It works.

Timeline-wise, this takes place a year after the Shishio incident, ignoring the aftermath of the Jinchuu Arc entirely. Thus Sanosuke is still around, and Megumi is mentioned. I have roped myself into writing a sequel for this, so keep an eye out for it. You'll understand when you read the last section-- it simply has to happen.

A note on Kenshin's dialogue: I came to the series through reading the manga, in which "sessha", the pronoun that Kenshin uses to refer to himself is translated as "this one". As such, I have used "this one" when Kenshin is referring to himself. For you anime-watchers out there, I do occasionally have him say "so it is" or some variation thereof to approximate the "de gozaru yo", but not very often since it has a tendency to sound awkward. Part of why I like Kenshin is because of his somewhat awkward speech pattern, but awkwardness, like many other things, is best used sparingly.

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Kaoru's Cake Remix

Kenshin's first clue that there was something wrong was at breakfast, when Kaoru didn't yell at Yahiko for chewing with his mouth open. Under normal circumstances, the girl would be yelling at her young pupil for anything and everything under the sun, but today she seemed oddly-- well, if Kenshin didn't know better, he would have said that she seemed almost _calm_.

Sanosuke came barging in just as the three dojo residents were finishing breakfast. The former street fighter helped himself to a bowl and chopsticks, then plunked all five feet ten inches of himself down right next to the nine inches shorter Kaoru. She smiled and asked him how he was this morning as he shoveled food into his mouth, and then helpfully patted him on the back when he nearly choked.  
_  
There is definitely something wrong with Kaoru-dono today,_ Kenshin thought. He resolved to visit with Tae at the Akabeko after he finished the laundry. Tae and Kaoru were friends. If anyone knew what was wrong with Kaoru, it would be Tae.

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"Hey Kenshin, you notice anything weird about Kaoru today?" Yahiko asked.

Kenshin looked up from the undershirt he was washing. "This one wonders why you are not practicing swords, so he does," he said.

"Cuz Kaoru's off in la-la land. I think she's possessed or something."

"Kaoru-dono _is _behaving oddly, so she is," Kenshin admitted. He shook the undershirt out, hung it on the line, and reached for the next garment in the pile. "This one planned to go to the Akabeko and speak to Tae-dono."

"Can I come?" Yahiko asked.

Sanosuke popped his head around the edge of the open door. "You two goin' somewhere?"

"We're going to the Akabeko to see if Tae-san knows what's going on with Kaoru," Yahiko informed him.

"Sounds fun," Sanosuke said, nodding. "Mind if I tag along?"

"We do not leave until this one finishes the laundry." The street brawler groaned at Kenshin's statement.

Yahiko looked at the towering pile of dirty laundry and grimaced. "That'll take half the day, at least," he said. "Can't you leave it for later?"

"C'mon Kenshin, live a bit," drawled Sano, propping himself against one of the support beams of the porch. "Jou-chan's washing'll still be here when you get back."

"Oro-- Yahiko and this one have washing in here as well, and Megumi-dono left some things too, so she did." Kenshin pawed through the basket and pulled out a long strip of cotton. "This is not mine, and it is too large to be Yahiko's. Could it be yours, Sano? Perhaps you'd like to help, since you leave laundry here. The work would be done quicker if this one had some assistance, so it would."

Sanosuke eyed the cloth skeptically and opened his mouth to say something about not washing other people's underwear before realizing that the loincloth in question was indeed his own. He mumbled something about being allergic to soap and hurried off. Yahiko helped Kenshin get through the rest of the laundry, and the two of them left for the Akabeko.

The Akabeko was packed for lunch when they arrived. Kenshin and Yahiko were nearly bowled over by a waitress carrying three servings of gyunabe, the Akabeko's signature dish. Tae came up to the two visitors, drying her hands on her apron.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"There's something wrong with Kaoru," Yahiko blurted out. "She's all _happy_."

Tae's worried expression turned to one of relief. "Well, of course she should be happy," she said. "It's her birthday, she's turning nineteen. I was going to run over and wish her luck after the lunch rush." The restaurateur looked Kenshin up and down. "You're her lover. You should make her a cake or something."

"Cake?" Kenshin repeated.

"Sponge cake. I know you've had it. Westerners often make cake for people on their birthdays," Tae explained. "I can help you find the ingredients if you like."

Kenshin thought about it. On the one hand, he'd have loved to make something special for Kaoru. On the other hand, he'd never made sponge cake and from what he'd heard about Western cooking, he suspected that it would be extremely complicated. Yahiko, however, had no such qualms.

"Yeah, let's do it!" the youth cried.

Tae smiled. "Just go on back to the kitchen and I'll be with you in a second."

Kenshin and Yahiko followed her pointed finger through the sliding doors to the kitchen, where two cooks frantically chopped vegetables while Yahiko's friend Tsubame washed dishes. Upon seeing the dishgirl, Yahiko immediately tied back his sleeves and started helping, while Kenshin grabbed an extra cleaver and some gobo root.

"Well, I never figured you for a cook, Himura-san," Tae remarked as she slid the door closed.

Yahiko dried the last dish on a towel and put it on a shelf. "He's tons better than Kaoru, but he'll never admit it," he blurted out before Kenshin could react. "He's so gentlemanly it's almost sickening."

"This one has had some experience with cooking, so he has," Kenshin admitted, blushing slightly.

"Well, then you'll have no problem with this cake," Tae said. She waved them to follow her as she walked down the hall to the pantry. "It's pretty simple, just beaten eggs, flour, sugar. And a little bit of flavouring, but that's simple enough."

"What kind of flavouring?" Yahiko asked.

"It's called vanilla," Tae explained, pulling things off the pantry shelves. "It comes from very far away and it's a bit expensive, but we don't need very much. And besides, it's Kaoru's birthday."

The other ingredients were assembled without trouble, although Yahiko tried tasting the vanilla extract and found it not at all to his liking. Under Tae's guidance, Kenshin separated five eggs and began the long and arduous process of beating the whites while Tae added vanilla and a splash of vinegar to the yolks before passing the bowl off to Yahiko.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"Do like Kenshin's doing," Tae told him. "See?"

"It hurts my arm."

Kenshin's hand slowed slightly as he looked up. "Think of it as endurance training. If you can keep working even when it hurts your arm, you'll be able to keep fighting longer when you get tired. The circular motion will help strengthen your wrist, too."

Yahiko looked somewhat skeptical, but he fell to with a will. Tae smiled, then noticed that the whisk in Kenshin's hand was barely moving.

"Kenshin!" she yelled. "The eggs'll deflate if you leave them alone!"

Kenshin "Oro-ed" and got back to beating the egg whites, wincing. "This one's arm is nearly as stiff as the egg whites, so it is."

"Think of it as endurance training, Kenshin!" Yahiko said with a grin. "What good is the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu if you don't have the endurance for it?"

"This one has been foiled by his own advice, so he has," Kenshin sighed. "Luckily, the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu places emphasis on strengthening both sides of the body equally." Pausing momentarily to put down the bowl, Kenshin switched the whisk to his left hand and kept going, not quite as fast but with much renewed energy.

"I'm not sure if that's entirely fair-- " Tae began.

"You cheater! You're ambiphibious!"

"That's 'ambidextrous', Yahiko," offered Tae.

"Whatever. Should have known Kenshin would be it, either way. He's that cool."

"It is mostly due to this one's training, so it is," Kenshin pointed out. "One never knows when one's stronger hand may be incapacitated, so it is sensible to train the weaker one in case it becomes necessary, so it is." Left arm having gotten tired, he switched again.

"Here, you'll want to add the rest of the sugar now," Tae put in, reaching for the bowl. The sugar was added, accompanied by a slap on the hand for Yahiko when he tried to sneak some. "Just for that," she said. "I think you can do the rest of the beating while Kenshin helps me with the pan."

When Tae pronounced the egg whites ready, she showed Kenshin how to fold the two mixtures together with the flour. The resulting batter was poured into a large paper-lined pan and placed in what Tae called a "Dutch oven", which she half-buried in the coals of the kitchen hearth.

"There," she said, brushing flour off her hands. "The cake should be done in a half hour or so."

"Good," said Kenshin. "That gives us time to clean up the mess we made, so it does."

Bowls were washed, the whisks was put to soak in hot water, and ingredients were put back into pantry and ice-box to the tune of Yahiko's grumbling. By the time they had gotten the last of the spilled sugar off the floor, the cake was done.

"We'll let it cool for a bit, then you can take it back to your house and eat it," Tae explained, lifting the pan out of the Dutch oven. She carefully cut around the edge of the cake and put it upside down on a wire rack, then tapped the bottom of the pan and lifted it off. A golden mound of rich-smelling goodness appeared.

"Wow," said Yahiko, impressed in spite of himself. He grinned. "Wait'll Kaoru sees this."

"This one hopes she'll be pleased after all the hard work we put in, so he does," Kenshin added.

Tae was more optimistic. "She'll love it," she assured the two cooks.

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Some time later, Kenshin and Yahiko scurried through the dojo gate, carrying a mysterious package. Kaoru saw them as they tried to sneak around a corner.

"Where do you two think you're going?" she asked.

Yahiko looked to Kenshin for guidance. Kenshin nodded. Yahiko took the sign, grabbing the package and running for the kitchen. Kenshin reached up and covered Kaoru's eyes.

"Yahiko and this one have a surprise for you, Kaoru-dono," he said, steering her into the kitchen. He sat her carefully at the table, holding his hands over her eyes until Yahiko reappeared with the unwrapped cake slices on a tray.

"Surprise! Happy birthday, Kaoru!" the boy said happily. Kaoru looked from one anxiously smiling face to the other, then at the cake.

"Sponge cake?" she asked.

"We made it," Kenshin explained. "Tae said that Westerners serve cake for people's birthdays, so she helped us." He took the dish from Yahiko and handed her a slice. "This one hopes you like it."

Kaoru carefully broke off a piece and tasted it. Her face lit up. "This is delicious! Thank you so much, Kenshin." She stood up and hugged him. "Thank you."

"Hey, I helped too!" Yahiko said angrily, only to be ignored.

"Kenshin," Kaoru said, looking thoughtful. "When is _your_ birthday?"

"It's on the twentieth, so it is. Today is the third, so-- " He did some mental math, counting on his fingers. "Two weeks and a few days. Strange, it always seems to sneak up when this one isn't paying attention. Last year at this time, we were all so busy with the Shishio incident that by the time this one remembered it was coming up, it had already passed."

"Wait, but if you were twenty-eight when you first moved in, and your birthday's in June-- " Kaoru almost didn't want to say it.

"You're turning _thirty_?!" Yahiko squawked.

Kenshin nodded. "This one can't quite believe it either. Funny how time flies, isn't it?"

"That settles it!" Kaoru announced. "Thirty is a big deal, so we're going to make it one. We forgot your birthday last year, Kenshin, but this year we'll make up for it, definitely!"

"Oro."

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Tae's Cake Recipe

5 eggs, separated  
1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice  
1 cup sugar  
1 teaspoon vanilla  
1/4 teaspoon salt  
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of your pan or pans. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the vinegar until thick and pale, then add 3/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla, and mix well. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy, add the salt and continue until soft peaks form. Add the remainder of the sugar and beat until stiff. Gently stir 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture, then spoon the rest on top. Sift the flour over the egg whites, and fold to combine, being careful not to deflate the air bubbles in the egg whites. Pour into previously prepared pan or pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a knife blade, toothpick, or skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan. I like to use rectangular pans and make even slices that can then be handed out without too much mess, but round pans can also be used. If you use muffin tins, they'll only need to bake for 15 or 20 minutes, so don't wait too long before checking them.


End file.
